The Package
by shanejayell
Summary: In two weeks, the angels will come to Tokyo-3... and Shinji is out of the country! So Gendo hires the Lagoon Company to bring him back!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Evangelion or Black Lagoon, I'm just borrowing them both for awhile. While this is NOT in canon for either series Black Lagoon fans can assume that Rock arrived in Roanapur not long before Second Impact in Evangelion. Therefore he's been working for the Lagoon Company for about fifteen years.

Neon Genesis Evangelion/Black Lagoon

The Package

Gendo Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV, master planner and ruler of all he surveyed, felt a headache coming on as he listened to his cousin on the phone. "The boy is WHERE?" he demanded harshly, his glasses sliding down his face comically.

"Thailand," his cousin answered him briskly, "the boy won the trip in a musical competition in town." There was a pause as he added with cold amusement, "You did tell me to encourage his interest in music, Gendo."

'As a means of further isolating him, not...,' Gendo thought to himself irritably, but decided not to dwell on it. Briskly he asked, "When is the boy due back?"

"At the end of next month," the man said smugly, "he's touring with a symphony orchestra there, you know."

Gendo felt his headache grow into a pounding between his eyes. "Fax me the route and information," he said bleakly, "I'll have to take steps."

Kozo Fuyutsuki looked on curiously as Gendo hung up the phone, the gray haired man slightly amused at seeing his normally cool colleague looking so flustered. "Is there a problem?" the second in command at NERV asked Gendo mildly.

Gendo pushed his glasses up, trying to regain his usual poise and get his irritation under control. "The Third Child is out of the country," he said to Kozo flatly as his mind worked rapidly, "and will be for at least a month or longer."

Kozo's eyes widened in alarm as all traces of humor leeched from his face. "Sachiel is due to arrive in two weeks," he said to Gendo worriedly. "What are we going to do? Rei will not have recovered enough by then to pilot..."

"We need to get him back here before then," Gendo said flatly, trying not to think what a disaster it might be if he wasn't there. He closed his eyes as he dredged his memory then mused, "Thailand, Thailand... don't we have a contact out there?"

Kozo looked rather worried as he answered, "Well, we did some business with Hotel Moscow at one point... but do you really think...?"

"She did business with us before," Gendo said as he picked up the phone, pausing only to check the number before dialing, "helping us will ensure there is more business. Besides, I'll pay them whatever we need to."

Gendo had to deal with several flunkies, but once it was clear who he was they quickly bumped him up. There was a moment's wait then a woman's voice came on, speaking English with a faint Russian accent. "Yes?" she drawled calmly.

Gendo took a steadying breath then answered her, "This is Gendo Ikari. WE did some business last year..."

"Ah, Mr. Ikari," Balalaika smiled, you could hear it in her voice as she added, "I have fond memories of our meeting in Hong Kong."

Gendo actually flushed slightly. He had arranged for them to meet in Hong Kong-2 to finish up their business, and he had been rather intrigued by the tall, scarred blond. They had ended up in bed after a few drinks, and he had been quite stunned by her sexual aggressiveness. He's heard of people being called a 'tiger in bed' but she brought that to a whole other level.

"As do I," Gendo agreed as calmly as possible, "but I'm sorry to say fond memories of the past must wait. I need you assistance with something."

"Hotel Moscow is ready to help," Balalaika purred, her voice taking on a dangerous tone. "How may we be of assistance?" she asked.

"There is a individual NERV needs who is currently in Thailand," Gendo said as emotionlessly as he could manage, "we need him retrieved and brought to Tokyo-3 quickly."

Balalaika paused for a moment then asked curiously, "Why not use your own security forces? I'm certain they're quite capable."

"I could send them in," Gendo conceded, "but time is of the essence. I need the retrieval completed in less than two weeks."

"Challenging," Balalaika noted, sounding like she was sitrting back in her chair. "I think I have just the experts in mind, Mr, Ikari." she mused, "May I ask whom we'll be retrieving?"

Gendo puffed out a breath, "My son, Shinji."

"Very interesting," Balalaika mused. "Can we expect any interference?"

Gendo nearly said no automatically, then thought better of it. SEELE needed the scenario to proceed uninterrupted, but the JSSDF had no such obligation to him or SEELE. And if they were even mildly aware of the requirements that Evangelion had to function, they might well try to stop them... "There might be some trouble," he conceded.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Stop it!" Shinji yelped as the brown haired woman yanked him off his feet, his own shorter brown hair falling into his eyes.

"All right people," Dutch said as the tall, bald headed black man casually hefted his shotgun, "we've got who we want. Stay here and be quiet, and nobody gets hurt." He looked at the woman, "Come on, Revy."

The three hurried out of the city's concert hall, Revy casually dragging Shinji behind her. "Are you sure this is the kid we're after, Dutch?" she asked briskly, "He don't look like much."

"Well, he matches the photo," Dutch shrugged as the muscular man shoved the doors to the concert hall open, the group running to the running car, a older model ford in decent shape .

The Asian man sitting behind the wheel looked rather dismayed to see the exposed guns they both were carrying. "Dutch, I thought we were going to try asking first?" he sighed, getting out so that Dutch could drive.

"This way's faster, Rock," Dutch said as he slid behind the wheel. "Revy, toss the kid in the back then take shotgun."

"Got it," Revy shoved Shinji in the back, then Rock climbed in, giving the frazzled looking boy a sympathetic look.

"What is going on here?" sitting in the back seat Shinji asked them plaintively even as they drove off, tires squealing.

"My name is Rockuro Okijima," the older Asian man offered his hand, "but everyone calls me Rock. You're Shinji Ikari, correct?"

"Yeah," Shinji shook his hand weakly.

"We are the Lagoon company," Rock smiled wryly as the car hurtled through streets and around traffic towards the sea, "we were hired by your father."

"My father?" Shinji blinked.

"He needs you brought to Tokyo-3 urgently, it seems," Rock shrugged.

"My father...?" Shinji blinked, trying to process that. Since his mother died Gendo had been a cold and remote, sending him off to live with his uncle in the country. And now, out of the blue, he wanted him for something?

Sirens wailed off in the distance, but gradually getting louder and closer to them. "Damn, the cops responded faster than I thought," Revy muttered.

Rock gave a pained look as he looked towards the front and asked, "You didn't threaten anyone when you grabbed Mr. Ikari?"

"Just to get their attention," Dutch shrugged.

Rock ran a hand over his face, "Oh dear." He pulled out his phone and dialed as he muttered, "Better have Benny start the engines..."

Within a few minutes police were in hot pursuit, the old ford rattling as they raced to the docks and Revy leaned out the window, taking pot shots at the police car's wheels. "Oh god we're gonna die," Shinji whimpered, ducking down in the back seat.

"You get used to it after awhile," Rock said to him comfortingly as they skidded to a stop on the city's run down docks. He bodily grabbed Shinji as they swiftly bailed out of the car and ran up the pier to a waiting patrol boat.

The blond haired man stuck his head up through the hatch as he called, "I thought this was going to be a simple pick up?"

"Things got a bit complicated, Benny," Dutch answered as they all hurried on board the boat as police hurried up the dock towards them.

"Punch it!" Revy yelled as they ran into the bridge, the sound of police climbing on board echoing around them.

Dutch dropped into the driver's seat and slammed a leaver, presumably starting the engine. Shinji barely stayed on his feet as they tore away from the dock, the boat bucking as it tore free from the lines securing it. There were dismayed cries above them as police fell into the drink or desperately held on to the ship's hull.

"Think any of them stayed on?" Rock had to ask.

Dutch made a face. "Revy, go check," he ordered, "but if there are any still on, don't kill 'em. Shoot to wound."

"Yeah, yeah," Revy sauntered off, sounding disappointed.

Shinji staggered over to a wall and leaning against it collapsed bonelessly to the deck. He had just been kidnapped, shot at by police and now was on a boat going who knows where... it was all rather shocking to the normally sheltered young man.

Rock noticed his state and walked over, smiling down at him sympathetically as he asked, "Are you all right?"

"No," Shinji answered him miserably, "I've been abducted, shot at... and my cello was left back there, too!" He slumped, thumping his head against his knees.

"We'll try to get it back once the heat dies down," Dutch said calmly as they raced out of the harbor, keeping a eye out for persut.

"Don't worry," Rock patted Shinji on the shoulder as he told the boy, "I'm sure things will go better from now on."

Revy sauntered in as he said that and grimaced. "Do you have to tempt fate, Rock? Now something will go wrong, bet on it."

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Neon Genesis Evangelion/Black Lagoon

The Package

Two

The patrol boat swung around to the harbor, the boat rocking a bit more than usual because of the bullet holes. Out in the China Sea they had been ambushed by pirates, tho what they were after Shinji couldn't tell.

He had been up on the deck talking to Rock as the sun shone down on them. "We'll take the trip in stages, I think," Rock told him, "just so you don't end up on the ship too long." He smiled wryly, "You don't want to camp out here overnight, it's rather uncomfortable."

"Can't be worse then some of the hotels I've stayed in on this music tour," Shinji offered shyly, smiling a bit.

Rock chuckled slightly, then paused. He looked off into the distance, eyes narrowing a bit, "Oh hell." Before Shinji could say anything he scrambled to his feet and ran for the hatch yelling, "Revy, incoming!"

"Benny's got them on radar," Revy said, the woman walking by just as Shinji was scrambling for the hatch. She carried a very scary looking army rifle, something that looked like a prop from a action movie.

"What's the plan?" Rock asked as the ships began to close in on the Lagoon.

"I'm going up top to discourage them," Revy grinned.

"Discourage?" Shinji said weakly.

Revy ignored him as she lay on the deck, setting up the tripod and sighting through the big gun. Shinji watched from behind, noticing the attractive curve of her ass in the tight shorts and blushing faintly.

Rock noticed and smiled wryly, "I wouldn't if I were you."

"S... sorry," Shinji blushed furiously.

Revy ignored them, entirely focused on what she was doing. She squeezed the trigger and the heavy canon bucked, the bullet roaring away. A few seconds later the first nearing patrol boat wobbled then fell back, smoke pouring out.

"Scratch one," Revy purred, lining up her next shot.

"What is she...?" Shinji whispered, not wanting to disturb her as three more boats roared ever closer.

"Taking out engines or pilots," Rock answered, watching through eyes narrowed to cut down on the glare. He smiled wryly, "She's mellowed over the years."

"Huih?" Shinji blinked, faintly stunned to realize this woman was shooting people at such a distance.

"Once upon a time she'd have let them close, jumped on the other ship and killed them all," Rock sighed, his expression pained from a dark memory.

The gun roared again and another ship sputtered, bursting into flames as the two got nearer. "Get below you two," Revy said as she stood, drawing twin pistols as the two ships roared in, "it's about to get messy."

"Right," Rock grabbed Shinji and they headed towards the hatch just as guns began to fire from the surviving two boats.

"Should we really be leaving her there alone?" Shinji asked weakly, looking back as bullets twanged into the hull and the upper deck.

"Trust me, we'd just get in her way," Rock reassured him.

Peering out the window Shinji only caught bits of the fight, distorted by the limited view. Still, what he did see was awe inspiring, not to mention just a bit frightening. Guns in both hands Revy moved like a dancer, lightly bouncing across the deck as she fired, dropping men one by one. In flashes on red men died as bullets struck the boat, but Revy was always ahead of them.

Hauling a grenade out of her belt she chucked it on a fleeing boat, watching in satisfaction as the men bailed out into the sea. The surviving boat tried to speed away, and Revy pumped bullets from both pistols into it's rear. After a moment all was quiet on the deck, then she casually kicked a body off the deck over the side.

"All clear," Revy called as she took the hatch down into the boat.

Shinji flinched back from her slightly, a unconscious move that actually made the woman smile slightly. He steadied himself as he said, "You're bleeding."

Revy blinked then looked at her arm, a red streak forming where a near miss had creased her. "Well, damn," she muttered, frowning.

"Sit down," Rock ordered, "I'll get the first aid kit."

"Guess I'm slowing down," Revy joked to dutch as she sat down in one of the chairs beside where he drove the boat.

"I thought you were incredible," Shinji offered tentatively.

"If a bit scary?" Revy asked, smirking.

"A bit," Shinji decided to be honest as he said, "but there's nothing wrong with being scary, in the world we live in."

"Kid's got a point," Dutch admitted as Rock returned with the first aid kit.

Shinji had to kep from laughing as Revy hissed in pair from the disinfectant, whining like a little girl how much it stung. She was so tough on one hand, yet here she was complaining like a kid. Not that he'd do much better, but still.

It was getting into the evening as they passed the desecrated Buddha leading into the harbor of Roanapur. Dutch hadn't planned on stopping in their home base at first, but the boat had taken some hits in the firefight, and he didn't want to start the run into Japan in a damaged boat.

There was smoke in the air as the battered looking town came into view, no buildings over four stories up. "Was the city hit hard by Second Impact?" Shinji asked curiously.

"No, not really," Rock said honestly, "we lost the old harbor to rising seas, but we rebuilt it up." He took a drag from his smoke, "It's ironic that the city really thrived after Second Impact."

"Thrived?" Shinji raised his eyebrows.

"You'll see," Rock smiled slightly.

They pulled into dock, workers already waiting to begin work on the boat. "All right people," Dutch announced, "Balalaika called in, she wants to meet the kid. After that, we'll relax a bit at the Yellow Flag while we wait for the repairs."

"Is that really a good idea?" Rock asked, blinking.

"She's paying the bills this time, so...," Dutch shrugged. "Or do you mean the Flag?"

Rock grinned, "Both!"

"Don't worry," Revy slapped Shinji on the shoulder as they climbed off the boat onto the docks, "we'll keep a eye on you."

'Somehow, that's not comforting,' Shinji mused as they trooped off into the city.

The first place they stopped in was somewhere Dutch called Hotel Moscow, but it didn't look like any hotel Shinji had ever seen. Instead it felt like a armed camp, with men wandering about with guns, serious expressions on their faces. They were taken to a office that was nicely if not richly decorated, and occupied by a single woman.

Shinji wasn't sure what he expected hearing the name Balalaika, but the beautiful white-blond haired woman wasn't it. The scars on the side of her face didn't seem to take away from her looks, simply providing a unique accent. Et no matter how good looking the shapely woman was, there was also a frightening aura to her too.

"Well," Balalaika mused as she looked across the desk at Shinji, "so this is the heir to the throne." She got up and stepped around the desk, studying him a moment as she ran a hand across his cheek. "How was your trip, young man?"

"It was fine," Shinji answered, meeting her eyes as confidently as he could manage, fighting the urge to bolt out the room.

Balalaika smiled slightly, her gaze warming a bit as she said, "It seems there's a bit of iron in your spine." She walked back to her desk as she sighed, "It's a pity you weren't older, Mr. Ikari. It might make a interesting comparison..."

Shinji wasn't sure what she was talking about, and to be honest he didn't really want to know. Because if what she was implying was true, it kinda creeped him out.

"Be careful with your charge," Balalaika said as she took out a fine cigar and lit it up, "he must be in Tokyo-3 on time. Understood?"

"No problem," Dutch nodded, "as long as the repairs get done, I don't see any problems."

"It will be," the big, heavily muscled man by Balalaika said firmly.

"Boris will make sure of it," Balalaika nodded. She smiled faintly, "Show our Mr. Ikari the night like, then. Just be careful."

"Will do, big sis," Revy waved as they headed out.

The night air was calming as Shinji took a deep breath, relieved to be out of that office. No matter how nice or polite Balalaika acted there had been a undercurrent of danger around her. It wasn't that she intended to be scary, it was almost automatic from her...

Dutch seemed rather calm as he said, "All right, as your employer I suggest we relax while we wait for the repairs to be completed."

"On to the Flag?" Benny smiled.

Revy grinned, "On to the Flag."

Shinji, at that point in his life, hadn't been to many bars. In fact he hadn't been to ANY b ars, if you didn't count the tavern nearby his uncle's home. But even with that limited experience in mind, he knew the Yellow Flag was a dive. The neon light flickered and blazed, there were out cold men sprawled on the road and the swinging doors showed blood splatter on the floor.

"Well, come on," Rock patted him on the shoulder as the group boldly headed in.

Inside looked almost worse than the outside, if that were possible. The room was filled with armed men drinking, talking, playing or fighting along with a lot of booze. There were what Shinji guessed were prostitues hanging around, and he didn't want to guess what they were doing in the darker corners of the bar. Along with them there was a black haired lady in gothic lolita clothes, a sexy Chinese lady in a slinky dress and even a nun sitting up at the bar, wearing sunglasses with her habit!

:The blonde haired nun blinked in surprise as they neared then hugged the startled Shinji. "He's adorable!" she exclaimed, He looks just like a mini-Rock!"

"Eda, get off him," Revy growled, yanking the nun away. She looked up the bar, "Hey Bao, I need a drink!"

"Sit down, Shinji," Benny said, "we'll order you a soda."

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Neon Genesis Evangelion/Black Lagoon

The Package

There was tension in the dimly lit room as the group men looked across the table at each other. The youngest man frowned as he muttered, "This is nuts. A million just to whack a kid?"

An older man with a black eye-patch shook his head as he said, "Not just any kid. He's the son of that bastard Ikari. And we need him alive."

"So he's a junior bastard?" the redheaded woman noted, flipping a knife up then casually catching it over and over.

"Plus he's being protected by the Lagoon Company," Patch noted seriously.

"Revy is SO hot," the knife using woman murmured.

Everyone gave her a look, then the younger man shook his head. "Sonja, you are weird," he said with a sigh.

"Leave her alone, Jack," Patch instructed him. He looked at the four figures around the table, "If we want a shot at that money, he have to hit them in town."

The fourth person at the table leaned forward, her black hair flowing over her shoulders. Nina frowned as she said, "Then we have to use the Flag, Dutch always takes his people there."

"Got a plan?" Sonja asked, knowing the older woman probably had something in mind.

Nina smiled coldly, "Oh, I think I have a idea..."

In the Yellow Flag, the usual heavy drinking and talking were going on, the smoky bar feeling a bit like a armed camp. EVERYONE appeared to be armed, from the gothic lolita carrying a chainsaw on her back to the Asian lady with the knives. Even the blond haired Nun was packing heat, with a pistol in a holster under her shoulder.

Shinji looked around wide eyed as Benny came back with a soda for him, while Dutch was drinking canned beer and Revy and Rock were drinking rum. Revy was tossing back the rum casually, while Rock drank his somewhat more slowly.

"So, what do you think of Roanapur?" Dutch asked, smiling at Shinji slyly.

"It's a lot different from home," Shinji admitted.

"I can imagine," Revy laughed as she noted, "if you're anything like Rock here I bet you're freaking out."

"I wasn't that bad," Rock said with some dignity, his tie loosened but his white shirt still stiff.

"Wanna bet?" Revy poked him in the side.

Shinji drank his soda, wondering how a Japanese business man had gotten caught up in a lifestyle like this. He watched the older man being teased, joking with his friends and was faintly surprised at how happy he seemed.

"Mr. Okajima?" Shinji started tentatively.

"Just call me Rock," he smiled, "everyone does."

"Rock," Shinji smiled, "how did you end up here?"

Rock swirled the rum in his glass, his expression thoughtful. "Well, when I was younger I was doing some courier work for my company..."

Shinji sat, wide eyed, as Rock calmly told a tale of kidnapping, attempted murder and blackmail. He almost couldn't believe it, but the nods from the Lagoon Company and the members chiming in with details helped convince him.

"I wasn't seriously shooting at you," Revy protested as Rock was describing how she had blasted away with one of her pistols towards him.

"It sure felt like it to me!" Rock protested.

"Trust me, if I had been seriously shooting at you," Revy noted as she caressed his cheek, "you'd be dead."

"She's got a point," Benny noted mildly.

"Anyway," Rock continued, describing his first impressions of the Yellow Flag, the mercenary attack, their escape and the eventual battle with a gun helicopter.

"Wow," Shinji finally said, wide eyed.

"So after having my bosses try to murder me, I had nowhere to go," Rock took a drink, "but the Lagoon Company were happy enough to offer me a job."

"Anyone who comes up with a plan like launching a torpeedo boat off a sunken ship to knock out a attack helicopter is someone I want working for me," Dutch noted, finishing off his beer. He nodded to Rock, "And he's gotten better with age."

Rock blushed as the others laughed. "So, who's the kid?" the blonde haired nun assked, slinking over with a smile.

"He's none of your damned business, Eda," Revy shot back, having freed Shinji from her clutches when they first came in.

"Now don't be like that, Revy," Eda said as she pulled up a chair, her breasts bouncing a bit under the habit. Shinji noticed and blushed, even more so when Eda saw him noticing and winked to him slyly.

"You wouldn't happen to have some information to sell us?" Benny asked, looking over at Eda thoughtfully.

"Oh, I have a tidbit or two," Eda said modestly, taking a drink from her stein of beer.

"And how much will it cost us?" Revy asked, frowning at her.

"Just a small favor later," Eda answered, "I'm feeling generous today."

"Or Balalaika told you to," Dutch noted calmly. He sighed, "All right, let's hear it."

"Your young friend here is a very popular boy," Eda said frankly, "seems there's a million dollar bounty to capture him."

"What?" Shinji squeaked.

Eda ignored that, "It looks like a group of European countries have put up the money, but I don't know why." She frowned, "I am sure someone else is pulling the strings, but the only name I could get was something called SEELE."

"That explains the pirates that hit us on the way here," Benny muttered.

"Capture, not kill?" Revy asked, looking thoughtful.

"Yeah," Eda agreed, "in fact there's a rider on the contract. If Shinji gets killed, the bounty goes on whoever killed him."

Revy blinked, "That is fucking weird."

"Yeah," Eda nodded.

"Has word of this spread around Roanapur?" Dutch asked, now looking around the Yellow Flag somewhat warily.

"Not that I know of, but I can bet you it will soon," Eda said seriously. She looked at Shinji thoughtfully, "If I wasn't scared of pissing off Balalaika, I'd take a shot at grabbing the kid myself." She reached out to ruffle his hair, "He's a little cutey."

"Ma'am," Shinji blushed, moving away from her hand.

"Back off, Eda," Revy growled.

As they talked the people in the bar watched, drinks flowed and good time girls kept busy in the darkened corners of the bar. There were side bets being placed on if Revy would beat the crap out of Eda again, but no one was really too serious about it. Revy really had mellowed over the years, mostly from the bad influence of Rock.

The four people entered one at a time, moving to where they could keep a eye on the Lagoon Company without drawing too much attention. They talked to people they knew even as they slid into position, watching the group in the middle of the room.

Revy downed a glass of rum, putting the glass down as she looked at Dutch. "Should we head back to the boat or...?" she asked.

"I'd usually say go back home, but I think we'd better be ready to move out fast," Dutch said after a moment's thought. "Let's head back to the boat."

Patch saw them getting up, and the older man cursed under his breath. Realizing there was no time for finesse he drew back a fist and punched the guy nearest to him, yelling, "Stop looking at my woman!"

"I wasn't looking, you crazy bastard!" the man snarled back, running at Path who dodged, sending the goon crashing into a nearby bunch of guys.

The thing about starting a fight in the Yellow Flag was that it was very easy for it to balloon into a full bore barroom brawl. Especially if four people are doing everything they can to help it along. Within minutes what was a dispute in the corner had turned into a near riot engulfing the whole bar.

"Revy, if this is your fault I'll..." Bao yelled as the old man ducked behind the specially reinforced bar.

"It's not my fault!" Revy yelled as the team hustled Shinji through the fight.

"That's what you always say," Eda noted cheerfully, slugging a guy who tried to grab her. "Hey, respect the habit!" she growled.

"Look out!" Shinji squeaked just as someone was about to hit Dutch with a chair.

Dutch ducked, then turned around to punch the other guy in the face, sending him flying backward. "Thanks," he nodded to Shinji, the group pushing through the crowd.

"They're getting away!" Jack muttered as he and Sonja tried to get to the Lagoon Company. While the fight was delaying their prey, it was also making it damn hard to actually reach them.

"I have a idea," Sonja grinned, her green eyes gleaming.

'Oh shit,' Jack thought, somehow knowing this was gonna be bad.

"Hey everybody!" Sonja yelled, "That kid with the Lagoon Company has a price on his head! They're trying to hog the bounty for themselves!"

There was a long beat of dead silence as that hit the room like a bomb. Then there was the sound of guns being drawn even as the Lagoon Company burst from the bar and out into the street.

"Get 'em!" someone yelled, and the whole mob raced for the doors.

"Run?" Rock asked as they got their bearings.

"Run," Dutch agreed as they bolted, bodily dragging Shinji after them.

To be continued...

Notes: How does Eda know about SEELE? SPOILER: Eda is secretly a CIA agent, and apparently their conduit into Roanapur. It seems likely the CIA might know something about SEELE, even if not in detail.


	4. Chapter 4

The Package

Chapter four

The organization known as SEELE did not meet in person, nor were the members open with each other about who they were. Instead they met in a virtual plane, represented by simple steel obelisks, each one marked with a number. Their voices were distinctive yet could also be disguised, no one really knew.

"Who put the bounty on young Ikari?" 01 demanded, the leader of their group sounding very angry despite the distorted voice.

"It wasn't us," 02 replied, apparently representing several European nations. "We're searching as hard as we can, but..."

"Search harder," 01 said flatly, "we don't have TIME for delays! There is less than two weeks before the Angel arrives!"

03 hesitated then the representative for Germany asked, "Could we move Soryu?"

"Not without complicated explanations," 01 said after a moment. "Begin making preperations for the move, but covertly. How quickly could you get the Second Child there?"

"Just barely in time," 03 admitted, "in fact I don't know if we would make it."

"Then we concentrate on Ikari," 01 said, "we need to get him to Tokyo-3 in time, at all costs. Is this understood?"

"Yes," the group chorused as the holograms winked out.

The final hologram 01 wavered a moment, revealing a old man, his eyes hidden behind a mechanical visor. Keel Lorenz was a powerful man, surrounded my servants, yet in this he was stymied by unknown forces. He leaned forward, expression grim as he said, "Are you there, Balalaika?"

"Thank you for letting me observe," Balalaika, head of the Roanapur underworld and possible leader of the Russian Mafia said coolly. "I take it you wanted me to know that SEELE is not responsible for the troubles in my town?" she drawled.

"Yes," Keel agreed, "you have been a great help to us in the past, and I hope you will continue to be." He paused, "I would hate to see our relationship suffer."

Balalaika got the subtext and smiled slightly. "Don't threaten me, old man," she cautioned him, "you have many strings, but you're no puppet master. I could kill you if I needed too."

Keel grit his teeth, but knew she was telling the truth. The woman could mobilize a small army, even if his own forces were equally powerful. "No insult was meant, and I hope none taken," he answered smoothly.

"Fair enough," Balalaika answered after a moment. "I have my best people trying to bring Shinji to Tokyo-3, but things are complicated by the high bounty on him. We may have delays fighting off interested parties," she added.

"We'll do everything we can to kill the bounty," Keel promised.

"Do so," Balalaika said, "and I would suggest looking into your enemies. They have every reason to see you fail."

And with that, Balalaika's image disappeared as well.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"They did WHAT?" Gendo Ikari snapped, the brown haired older man looking at his closest ally Kozo in disbelief.

Kozo noted the surprise on the man's face and decided Gendo was telling the truth. He certainly wasn't that good an actor in Kozo's experience. "I almost thought it was your back up plan, in case the agents Balalaika sent failed," he noted mildly.

"No it would be far too chancy," Gendo shook his head firmly, pushing up his glasses with one hand. "Did we hear from Balalaika?" he asked.

"Yes, it appears that Shinji was successfully retrieved from the concert hall ans brought to Roanapur," Kozo reported calmly. "They'll be on the move again after refueling and a night's rest."

Gendo frowned as he considered the situation. There wasn't anything he could directly do about the Roanapur situation, so he focused on what he could do: determine who their adversary was. "The bounty emerged from central Europe?" he mused aloud.

"It apparently came from there," Kozo corrected. "If it was really sponsored by SEELE, they wouldn't be so clumsy."

Gendo nodded slightly, "Someone is using SEELE as a patsy."

"Which takes a fair degree of guts," Kozo noted quietly, both men well aware of how powerful SEELE was. "Who would dare?" he wondered.

"There's a Japanese project trying to produce a substitute for Evangelion," Gendo speculated, "I suppose they could attempt to launch early. But if they failed..."

"Third impact," Kozo shuddered slightly. "It could be that they do not realize what could happen if they fail?"

"It's possible," Gendo sighed, "but truly, there are far too many suspects to consider." He shook his head, "Deploy Section 2 forces around the city. When Shinji arrives, we need to be ready to protect him. It's all we can do."

"And if Captain Katsuragi asks about what we're doing?" Kozo asked curiously, knowing that Misato was in the chain of command and would likely find out.

Gendo gave him a rather flat look. "If you cannot handle Katsuragi, possibly I should be looking for a different second in command?" he mused.

"Of course, it will be handled," Kozo answered, then hurried off to work.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Get 'em!" someone yelled, and the whole mob raced for the doors.

"Run?" Rock asked as they got their bearings.

"Run," Dutch agreed as they bolted, bodily dragging Shinji after them.

Shinji Ikari knew he had a rather unmanly scream. In fact, more than once he had been told he screamed like a little girl. However, under the circumstances he thought a good scream was justified right about now.

"Shut up!" Revy growled as the Lagoon Company broke out of the crowd around the bar, running for the latest old car Dutch owned

Not far from them the horde of bounty hunters and killers poured out of the bar, and most of them were heavily armed. "Give up the kid," the mechanical tone came from Sawyer's vocoder as the gothic lolita clad woman hurried after them, "we'll split the bounty."

"Not likely," Benny said as they yanked the doors to the car open.

"Stop!" the figure seemed to appear from the shadows, jumping down from a nearby balcony to land on the car with a thump. He posed dramatically, long coat billowing, "I am Rotton, the Wizard, and I say..."

"Shut up," Revy shot him with one of her twin pistols, sending the man flying off the car to hit the street with a thud.

"She shot him in cold blood!" Shinji yelped even as Rock pitched him into the back seat, him and Revy following him in as Dutch and Benny took the front seats.

"He wears body armor," Rock noted as they squealed off, "he'll be fine."

"Head for the docks, Benny," Dutch ordered as the big black man pulled out a pistol from beneath his jacket.

"I think word is out," Benny noted as the blonde haired man pointed ahead of them were several cars were blovking the road, "they're trying to cut us off."

"Oh good," Revy smiled ferally as she hefted her pistol and stuck her head and shoulders out the window, readying to shoot.

Meanwhile, back at the Yellow Flag Sawyer walked over to where Rotton had been blasted off of the car. "Are you all right?" Sawyer asked mechanically.

"How did I look?" Rotton asked as he got up, adjusting his sunglasses and long coat, the kevlar vest he wore underneath visible.

"You look like idiot," Shenhua noted, the black haired woman in a slinky dress noted, casually flipping a knife. "You barely make distraction," she noted.

"Well, are the barricades up?" Rotten asked his teammates, wincing a bit as he felt a broken rib shift. While not that efficient as a killer he had a certain amount of charm and luck, which put him in the odd position of being in charge of their little trio.

"Yes," Sawyer answered, "though I don't know if they'll stop them."

"Well, this IS Dutch we're talking about," Rotten admitted, then he shrugged. "Let's grab a car and join the chase!"

Meanwhile Dutch was swearing loudly as the car had to turn to avoid another roadblock. "What the hell?" he growled, pushing up his glasses as they were rocked by poorly aimed gunfire.

"Damn, someone must have planned this well in advance of our hitting the Flag," Rock noted, mooshed in the back with a terrified Shinji and a annoyed Revy.

"Get me someplace I can start shooting these bastards!" Revy growled angrily, waving one of her guns in annoyance.

"Could you please not point that at me?" Shinji whimpered.

The phone Dutch usually carried rang, and he answered it as Benny took them down a straight stretch of road. "Ah, Miss Balalaika," Dutch said, "you're aware of our situation?"

"I got word of the bounty, but not soon enough to warn you," Balalaika sounded mildly annoyed as she added, "My source claimed word had not spread, but obviously they were wrong."

"Hey big sis!" Revy leaned forward to call into the phone, "anything you can do about these jackasses?"

"I have my squads out to the east end of the city ambushing the ambushers," Balalaika now sounded amused as she told them, "head that way, and you should be able to get through." She paused, "Is young Mr. Ikari fine?"

"I'm okay," Shinji managed, trying not to look at Revy's ass as she practically jammed it into his face while leaning into the front of the car.

"I regret I will likely not see you again in Roanapur," Balalaika said, "I wish you well, Shinji." She hesitated, "I expect that hard times are coming to you, boy. Face them bravely, and you will bring honor to yourself and your comrades."

Shinji blinked, taking that in. "I'll try," he said quietly.

"Dutch, get him to Tokyo-3 in time," Balalaika seemed to choose her words carefully, "the stakes are higher than you know. Understood?"

"Will do," Dutch agreed as the east bound car passed the first group of Balalaika's troops. "We're headed for the docks and will be on our way shortly."

"Good luck to all of you," Balalaika said before hanging up.

To be continued...

Notes: Second draft. I chucked about a third of my first version as I realized there was no way Balalaika'd be caught off guard. Also, why does Balalaika know SEELE? I assume after Second Impact she pretty much runs the Russian mob, and SEELE probably needs them to get any 'covert' stuff done in the former USSR.

Rotton the Wizard (Or Lotton, depending on the translator) tends to make dramatic appearances in Black Lagoon, only to get nailed immediately. However as one of the few characters to wear kevlar, he usually gets away okay.


	5. Chapter 5

The Package

Chapter five

Roanapur was in chaos as fires burned in the distance, explosions ringing out in the night. Bounty hunters had mobilized trying to claim the price on Shinji Ikari's head, while Hotel Moscow and the Lagoon Company were doing their damnedest to try to get the boy out of the city alive.

"Ooof!" Shinji grunted as they banged their was over a bump in the road, the old car's shocks not providing much protection. The brown haired teen was still trying to get his head around the insanity of this whole situation.

"How are you coping?" Rock asked, the older man looking at him with sympathy

"None of this makes any sense," Shinji shook his head as they screeched around a burning car, "why ME? Why would anyone put a bounty on me?"

Revy was sweeping their surroundings intently, one of her guns in hand as she said, "Might not be about you, kid. Your dad's a pretty powerful man, right? You might be leverage."

"But I don't even LIKE my father," Shinji sighed.

"All right, looks like Balalaika's people have cleared us a way to the docks," Dutch announced from the front seat, "but brace yourselves, it could still get a bit rough."

'Rough' was a understatement, as far as Shinji was concerned. Balalaika's people had successfully ambushed the waiting ambushers, smashing the traps with superior military force. They cruised by burning vehicles and broken bodies, blood splattering the road they drove over. Eerily the other passengers seemed to be entirely unbothered by the carnage, while Shinji fought against the impulse to throw up.

The pulled up to the docks even as a group of bounty hunters burst from cover, charging their vehicle. "Get DOWN!" Revy yelled as she shoved Shinji to the floorboards even as she opened up with the pistol in her other hand.

Shinji heard a yelp of pain then Dutch's shotgun roared, shouting and at least one scream of pain cutting through the night. From outside a male voice called out, "Just give up the kid and no one has to get hurt!"

"You're kidding, right?" Dutch called back, sounding amused by the very idea of surrender. "We're the Lagoon Company, we don't give up a client," he yelled. "I'll make you a counter offer," he said calmly, "get the hell out of here and Revy won't kill you all."

"Hey!" Revy protested, "Who says I'm letting any of them get away?"

Shinji gulped, then looked over to where Rock was crouching nearby. "She doesn't mean that, does she?" he whispered.

"Probably," Rock shrugged, "she really doesn't like people shooting at her friends."

Before more gun-play could resume there was the sound of a soft cough, then another went off seconds after the first. "Silenced rifle," Revy noted flatly as the sound repeated again.

The cellphone Dutch was carrying rang, and he answered it with a wary, "Yeah?" He brightened a bit, "Boris, that was your people?"

With a gulp Shinji remembered the mountainous sized man he had met earlier that day. The man looked like a animated brick wall, and coupled with the scars on his face he was a very forbidding figure. But there seemed to be an other side to him, considering how cheerfully Dutch was conversing with him. Well, Shinji figured it took all sorts...

"What now?" Shinji asked quietly.

"Get to the boat," Benny said as they quickly decamped from the car and hurried up the docks. Dutch lead the way with his shotgun ready, just in case, while Revy watched their backs as they ran along.

"Boris said that they'll run what interference they can to keep boats from launching, but other that that we're on our own," Dutch told them as they ran along the wooden dock, partially built on the foundations of buildings sunk after Second Impact.

"As usual," Rock quipped as they reached the boat. He hauled down the ladder with the ease of long practice even as Benny then quickly clambered up.

"You're next kid," Benny offered his hand, puling Shinji on board. "Get bellow, I'm right behind you," he added, following him down under the deck.

Dutch hurried to the bridge, while Shinji lingered in the background as he, Rock and Revy talked. "Fuelled up," Dutch nodded approvingly as he checked the dials, "let's go."

The roar of the engine heralded a sudden burst of movement as the boat rocketed away from the dock. "Whoa," Shinji nearly fell but managed to keep his feet.

"Revy, Boris mentioned he was disappointed he didn't have a chance to show Shinji how to shoot," Dutch noted as he watched the waters ahead of them.

Revy gave him a wary look, "Yeah, so?"

A faint smile teased Dutch's lips, "He thought you should do it instead."

"WHAT?" Revy yelped.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The man commonly known as Patch was lucky to be alive, even though he didn't feel all that lucky. The ambush at the Yellow Flag failed to get the Lagoon company and worse it sounded like his allies had failed too. That kid Ikari had escaped them, and he didn't know if he could try to catch up with them by boat.

Patch skulked down a alley, not wanting to be seen by anyone form Hotel Moscow or it's supporters. He had heard Balalaika herself was involved, and the icy blond was not happy about their attempt to get Ikari. He hesitated at the exit, looking around, then hurried down the street.

His partners Jack and Sonja were both dead, cut down by Revy as she had been breaking out of the bar. Nina had seemed to disappear, and Patch had no idea where she went. It meant that he was completely on his own, at least until he reached a safe place. Patch skirted a streetlight then scurried forward, glad that safety was only meters away...

"Well, fancy seeing you here," a voice purred from behind him.

Patch made a choking noise as he dropped to the street and drew his gun, spinning to face whomever was behind him. As fast as he was she was faster, her pistol pointed between his eyes with rock steadiness. "Eda?" he squeaked.

The nun had ditched her habit somewhere, and was in shorts and a t-shirt. It would have been a sexy and distracting sight if she wasn't holding that gun on him. "Patch, we have to talk," she smiled down at him coldly.

"I talk easier when people aren't holding guns on me," he tried bravely.

"Tough," Eda drew back the hammer of the gun pointedly. "How did you get word that fast about the Ikari bounty?"

"I have contacts...," Patch started, only to have Eda snort in disbelief.

Eda waved the gun slightly as she said, "Don't try to kid me, man. I had the news locked down tight in Roanapur, so I want to know who told you."

Seizing her momentary distraction Patch wrenched her gun aside with one hand then tried to break past her. With a startling sort of speed Eda kicked his legs out from under him, slammed him down onto the road and somehow ended up with her knee in the middle of his back.

"Now, that wasn't nice" Eda noted calmly. She dug her fingers into his hair and yanked back, making him moan in pain as she hissed, "Who told you?"

"All I know is a name," Patch squealed desperately, "Koji! He's Japanese, smokes! Other than that I don't know! Really!"

Eda blinked at that name, then jabbed him firmly. "Kaji?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's it!" Patch nodded as much as he could with her keeping a death grip on his hair, "That's all I know!"

Eda let his hair go and Patch breathed a sigh of relief and even began to hope he might survive. He was still relieved a second later as the blond calmly blew his brains out. His body slumped to the ground as Eda stood up, frowning to herself thoughtfully.

Eda knew of Ryoji Kaji, at least professionally speaking. He was a agent officially working for NERV, but there were rumours about him. He might be taking money from both NERV and the Japanese government, and possibly other parties. But why would such a man be trying to kill a kid like Shinji Ikari?

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The Lagoon kept close to the shoreline as they sailed away from Roanapur. They'd travel faster in open water, but there was a greater chance of running into a patrol boat too. While officially the waters they were sailing in were under international law, the region was rife with pirates and other similar craft. The lawlessness following Second Impact had never really gone away in less developed parts of the world, and Thailand was one of the worst.

The slow trip, however, gave Dutch and surprisingly Rock enough time to talk Revy into showing Shinji how to shoot. Personally Shinji wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he had to admit it would be nice to defend himself rather than be protected by the crazy people with guns. He was also faintly surprised by how Revy calmly ran him through a weapons safety lecture first.

"I never had this kind of training when I picked up a gun when I was younger," Revy mused thoughtfully as she set up some cans on the deck for them to shoot, "I just kind of picked it up. It wasn't until Mr Chang took me under his wing that I got a real education..."

She shook herself, visibly, then Revy settled down to teach Shinji the basics of gun use. The swaying of the boat didn't help his aim, but eventually Shinji found himself shooting the tin cans with fair regularity. Revy even praised him a bit, in a offhand way.

"I don't think you're a natural, but you don't need to be for most things," Revy said bluntly, "practice can make up for a lot. You play cello, right?"

"Yes?" Shinji asked meekly, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well, you probably weren't that good when you started. But with practice, you got good enough to go on that tour, right?" Revy shrugged.

"Yeah," Shinji acknowledged. He smiled wryly, "Too bad I lost me cello."

Revy actually looked a bit sheepish as she said, "Sorry about that."

"Oh well, things can be replaced I guess," he said as Shinji successfully shot another can off the railing and into the water.

They shot for awhile, then Revy fitted him with a holster for the gun. It hung uncomfortably on his hip. And to be honest Shinji felt a little foolish wearing it. "Yes, you have to wear it," Revy cut off a protest as they stood bellow deck, "you never know when you'll need it."

"I feel like a character in some American movie," Shinji muttered, shaking his head as he tried to get the gun to sit comfortably on his hip. "Do I need to practice quick drawing too?"

"Please no," Revy shuddered, "you'd probably accidentally shoot a hole in the ship. Or worse, yourself."

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

The Package

Chapter 6

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Shinji bleated as the fast rafts poured out from the nearby coastline, filled with what looked like pirates.

"Crap," Revy said succinctly, drawing her pistol and putting a bullet in the chamber. "Looks like shooting practice is over."

Rock stuck his head up from the hatch, his tie fluttering in the breeze as he said, "Dutch says that radar shows more boats hemming us in out on the water. We're going to have to break through them to escape."

Revy promptly used a word that would have gotten Shinji in deep trouble with his aunt and uncle. "Grab the wheel, Rock, and send Dutch up here," she ordered flatly, her eyes going hard and dangerous as she continued, "It's gonna get ugly."

"Right," Rock said, giving her a lingering look as he headed below.

Shinji grabbed hold of the railing as the ship jumped, the rough looking boats getting nearer. "What about me?" he asked steadily.

"Get below," Revy ordered calmly as she aimed, "no way are you ready for this."

As Shinji hurried to the hatch Revy's gun roared, and he saw a flash of red as a man fell from one of the boats. The seriousness of this struck him, a man was dead and she had done it so casually, like swatting a pesky fly. She fired her gun again, killing the helmsman of another boat, sending it out of control.

Revy spared him a annoyed look, "Get going!"

"Ah," Shinji jerked into motion, hurrying down the hatch and sliding down the ladder. His holstered pistol nearly caught on the hatch, but he wiggled free. He headed down the hall, then stepped aside for Dutch.

"Get to the bridge," he ordered Shinji, "make sure Rock doesn't do anything too crazy." AS Dutch climbed up to the deck he added under his breath, "I'm getting too old for this shit..."

Revy nodded to Dutch as he joined him on the deck, noting the sub-machine gun and extra ammo he was carrying. Good weapon for this sort of situation, or at least she hoped so. There were five boats of pirates heading for the Lagoon, each with twenty or more men. A sixth was trying to get back under control after she shot the pilot, but it'd probably join the attack eventually.

"Huh, about what I was expecting," Dutch noted flatly.

Revy smiled coldly as she said, "We've dealt with worse, over the years."

"Yeah, but we were both a lot younger at the time," Dutch countered as he took aim, firing off short burst to conserve ammo.

Down below Shinji reached the bridge, even as he heard Benny and Rock talking. "I knew we should have taken the long way around," Benny muttered, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and looking tired.

"Couldn't make it under the time limit," Rock sighed as they watched the pirates neared, "we're cutting it close as it is."

They both quieted down as Shinji entered, Benny smiling slightly. "Is everything okay upstairs so far?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shinji hesitated as he added, "Revy seems pretty confident."

Benny snorted, "She always seems confident."

Rock ignored that. "They'll signal when it's time to break out of this," he said, "get ready to grab onto something, we're going to have to go fast."

Shinji hesitated but had to ask, "Why can't we just run away from the shore and escape? The little boats couldn't catch us then."

"The radar shows a ring of ship waiting for us out away from the shore," Benny told him patiently, "even if we got away from these guys we'd have to dodge gunboats."

"Sorry," Shinji said meekly as they watched through the armored windows upfront as the pirates neared, only to be shot at by Dutch And Revy.

Up on the deck the pirates desperately tried to scramble up on the swaying boat's deck, only to be shot off by either Dutch or Revy. Well, actually Dutch was doing most of the shooting, to conserve her bullets Revy was kicking and punching people off with a frightening disregard to her own safety.

"Come on you fuckers!" Revy yelled, having stolen someone's machete after punching him in the face. The blade was red with gore, as were her tattoo marked arms.

"Stay back from the edge," Dutch cautioned as he pumped another burst of fire into the attackers. They were holding the attackers back and cutting into the numbers, but there were still a lot of 'em trying to board.

"Ha!" Revy yelled as she brutally chopped at a man's collarbone, dropping him in a purst of blood. She staggered back to Dutch, panting softly.

Dutch was relieved to see she didn't have the crazed look in her eyes that Revy occasionally got. It usually meant all hell was breaking loose, and they couldn't afford to have her go bezerk right now. "Can you reload?" he asked, noting she had ran out of bullets shortly after the attack began.

"My Cutlasses are reloaded," Revy grinned, "it's just funner this way." A bit more seriously she added, "There's too many to shoot with the bullets we have, we ain't winning this with just guns."

"You got a plan?" Dutch asked curiously. He guessed they'd downed about forty men or so, give or take. Of course that still left four boat loads or so of about eighty men. Give or take.

"Kill as many as we can, then break out along the coast," Revy shrugged as another boat inched it's way closer to theirs, the pilot now clearly wary of their skill with weapons.

"Short, simple and clear, I like that in plans," Dutch agreed as he opened fire again.

As they concentrated on the frontal assault, a boat broke away from the group attacking the one side. It wasn't a plan, it happened because Evy had shot their pilot and they were floating around erratically. Once the men on board got control they found themselves out and away from the Lagoon, and headed back as quickly as they could.

The bow or front of the boat wasn't an ideal place to try to board. It was a small area, with a pointed bow, and there would only be able to get a few fighters on at a time. On the other hand the two maniacs shooting their comrades were NOT there, and the shape of the boat would give them a bit of cover. In that way, it was perfect.

"Oh crap," Benny swore as they saw the boat heading toward the bow.

Rock convulsively grabbed the controls, then made himself relax. Starting the engines might throw Dutch or Revy off, which would be bad. "Benny, go get your pistol," he ordered just as the first few men climbed on.

"Right!" Benny scrambled away, hurrying down the hallway.

Several raggedly clad pirates hammered on the window with improvised weapons, making little progress. But someone passed up a axe, and the armor glass began to crack and buckle.

"Out of your seat, sir," Shinji said, tugging at Rock's arm and getting him away from the cracking front window.

"Benny, hurry up!" Rock yelled as the cracks spread through the plastic backed glass, the material bending inward.

"Looking for bullets!" a harried Benny yelled back.

With a loud crunch the glass started to give way, the material ripping away from the frame. Wildly the pirates tore at the glass, ripping their hands as they widened the hole to try and get inside and claim their prize. There was little time, the mad men up front had to notice them soon, but there was only a boy and a stunned man here...

A shot rang out, and the first pirate through the hole looked stunned a moment before scrambling backwards. Shinji stood in the shooting stance Revy showed him, gun held in two hands. Eerily he wasn't nervous, not even scared as he lined up the sights and fired again.

A man's head rocked backwards as the slug hit, and the pirates who had been desperate to get inside suddenly wanted to get the hell away. They scurried backwards across the bow, trying to get into their boat even as Benny arrived, laying down more wild but supportive fire.

"Everyone all right?" Benny asked, noting with some surprise how accurate Shinji was. Though admittedly compared to him anyone was a marksman, but the kid wasn't bad.

"We're fine," Rock said, giving Shinji a searching look.

"I'm okay," Shinji answered after a moment, puffing out a sigh.

Up on the deck they were standing n puddles of blood, both having run out of bullets. But Revy's savagery coupled with Dutch's strength and intimidating looks won the day, and the pirates had piled back into their boats to sail away.

"You still alive?" Revy asked as they leaned against each other, both quite exhausted.

"No," Dutch answered sarcastically. He moved away from her with a groan, sighing in pain. "Crap. Now I have to get back to the wheel incase those gunboats make a move," he sighed.

"I'll get the assault rifle," she agreed as they headed down the hatch into the ship, Revy adding, "I can probably warn 'em off, at least."

The two hurried to bridge, only to slow to a stop as they saw the broken in front window and Rock trying to clear off the glass. "What the hell?" Dutch blinked.

"We had some leakers," Rock sighed, "but we handled it. What's the situation up top?"

Businesslike Dutch got in the seat, wincing at the crunch of glass. "The pirates have fled, but we still have the patrol boats to deal with," he said. He called down the hall, "Benny, check the radar! What are the other boats doing?"

"They're," Benny paused as he checked something, "looks like they're scattering, Dutch. No idea why, but they're taking off like a bat outta hell."

Dutch slumped in his seat tiredly. "What the fuck?" he muttered.

Rock figured it out first, probably because he was better at thinking outside the box than most people were. And, honestly, he was less tired than the others too. "It was all to support the pirate attack," he said flatly, "someone paid those boats to hem us in and make us a target."

No one looked at Shinji, but no one had to. He was the only cargo the Lagoon was carrying, and he had to be the reason for the attack. The crew knew it, and so did Shinji. "But why?" Shinji had to ask. "I mean, I get they might want to use me as leverage against did, but he doesn't even LIKE me!"

"But do they know that?" Benny asked reasonably, having come back in the bridge to join the conversation.

"Doesn't matter," Dutch decided after a moment as he started the engines. "Let's get out of here, sitting on our assess won't get us to Tokyo-3 any faster."

"I'll watch the radar for any more surprises," Benny promised as he left.

Before Shinji could sneak off for a well deserved rest Revy grabbed his arm. "Come on," she ordered, tugging him along.

"Wha...?" Shinji started.

"You're a bigger target than I thought, kid," Revy said flatly, "so I figure getting you up to being a decent shot is more important than ever."

Shinji groaned, but meekly followed.

To be continued...


	7. Final

The Package

Seven

Sitting in his quarters in Berlin Ryoji Kaji sighed as he puffed on his smoke, the lanky, black haired man studying the reports. His attempt to stop Ikari's kid from reaching Tokyo-3 had failed. It seemed the Lagoon Company was as good as their reputation, and they were speeding to the city crossing the East China Sea.

Oh, Kaji COULD stop still them if he really wanted to. His contacts in the Japanese government could get the military out, A 'accidental' encounter between a customs ship and the Lagoon, weapons fired... yeah, he could do that. But killing the kid was never part of his plans. He needed Shinji alive to find out why his father needed him so much.

Kaji put the word out through his contacts to announce the bounty on Shinji Ikari was off. It would take time to trickle down to the street level, but the word would spread pretty fast. He also did his best to make sure nothing else could be traced to him.

Well, his first plan to find out what was going on in NERV had failed. But he had other options, and there were always new angles he could explore. Besides, he would be in Tokyo-3 himself soon enough along with his charge...

There was a knock on the door, then a attractive if young redhead stuck her head in the door. "Kaji, I'm bored!" Asuka Soryu Langley complained.

Kaji sighed and got up, even as he tried to figure out something to keep the kid occupied. And hopefully not get him arrested for statutory rape.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Meanwhile, Captain Misato Kasuragi was monitoring the progress of the Lagoon Company, even as she wondered how the hell things had gotten so far out of control. How the hell had Shinji ended up out of their reach and in mortal danger? What had happened to the security teams that were supposed to be monitoring him?

(Well, actually Misato had found out what happened to the Section 2 security team that had been supposed to be following Shinji covertly on his tour. A follow up team found their bodies in a hotel not far from where Shinji had been staying. They had followed him as ordered, and ended up getting killed for it.)

Misato supposed she should be greatful that the Lagoon Company had been able to get to Shinji as fast as they did. Someone with resources had been getting ready to move on Shinji, probably the same person who targeted him with that damn bounty.

She left the command center and headed up to the next floor, heading for the Commander's office. Commander Ikari frowned as Misato entered, the bearded man sitting behind his desk as she walked up to him. "Commander," Misato nodded, "we got a update on the Lagoon company."

"What is their estimated time of arrival?" Gendo asked coldly.

Misato did her best not to ask him why the hell he had asked Lagoon Company to bring Shinji back, rather than use her own military forces. "Less than a day," she told him briskly, "we've made contact with Benny, they don't expect any further problems."

"Good," Gendo said seriously, "the safety of the Third Child is critical for our operation."

'Third Child, not your son?' Misato thought even as she strived to keep the scorn off her face. "I'd like permission to meet the team at the docks," she managed to say calmly, "Shinji will need a escort here to NERV, after all."

Gendo gave her a thoughtful look, indicating she might not have hidden her emotions as well as she thought. Still, he nodded as he said, "Granted."

Misato headed out, even as she considered what to do next. She still didn't know what the mysterious urgency in having Shinji brought to Tokyo-3. Her best friend and chief scientist of this nut house, Ritsuko, had been suspiciously quiet. The only think Misato knew was that getting Shinji here was vital... and it could NOT be past the cut off date later this week.

'Piece of cake,' Misato decided, praying nothing ELSE would go wrong.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Well, fuck me," Revy said.

This time, her surprise was NOT due to something going horrific wrong. In fact it was because Shinji had successfully nailed the row of targets she set up. And even more impressive, he had done it on a rocking boat racing across choppy seas. The kid wasn't talented, exactly... he flinched too damn often, for one, to be a natural. But damn was he determined to improve.

"That means I'm getting better, right?" Shinji asked, the wind ruffling his hair.

"A bit, yeah," Revy agreed. "At least you can hit what you're aiming at," she added, not wanting to praise the kid too much.

Like Revy taught him Shinji put the safety on, made sure there was no bullet in the chamber then holstered the gun. As a Japanese citizen he had never been familiar with guns, even after the Impact Wars and their aftermath. But he understood the concepts well enough, and Revy was a good teacher. When she wasn't pissed off, anyway.

They were crossing open water towards Japan, and Shinji was eager to be home. He missed the people of the remote town he lived in, his class mates... hell, he even missed his emotionally remote Uncle and Aunt. And what he REALLY missed was not having people shooting at him. He missed that most of all.

The hatch onto the deck came up as Rock emerged from the ship, the businessman looking a bit wilted in his white shirt, tie and black pants. He nodded hello to Shinji then walked over to Revy, saying something to her quietly. She laughed and hit his shoulder, a much more relaxed expression appearing on her face.

'I wonder how two so different people can get so close?' Shinji wondered.

Shinji still wasn't quite sure what to make of Rock. The other members of the Lagoon company were... if not obvious, at least were pretty clear. Dutch was the captain and all around badass, Benny did the computer thing, Revy was the gunslinger. But Rock was harder to pin down... he negotiated, but not just that. From things Benny said Rock was a devious man, a planner and plotter when needed. And Dutch didn't say much, but he did admit that Rock came up with the craziest plans...

"Dinner's about ready," Rock told them, "it's a bit rough, but we didn't want to stop." He looked at Shinji, "We'll have you home in a few hours."

"It's not home, exactly," Shinji admitted, "but thanks."

Shinji wondered what his father wanted him for. He rather doubted it was for a warm, father and son reunion. (Tho he WAS rather impressed by how much trouble he had gone to recover him. Even if his father was a jerk, he could throw money around.) Whatever the reason, Shinji had to hope he could handle it. There was really nothing else he could do.

"Hey, it's time to eat!" Benny yelled from bellow.

"Come on, let's go," Revy nodded, the three headed down into the boat.

As Shinji followed Revy down, he did his best not to notice how... skimpy her outfit was. The toned, athletic woman sauntered about the ship in just cut-off shorts and a skimpy t-shirt. It took a heroic act of will for him not to look at her ass sway in front of him...

Then Shinji noticed he was noticing and blushed furiously, especially seeing the amused look on Rock's face.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Dutch couldn't hide the sense of relief he felt, finally reaching the Japanese coast. Not that this area was a hundred percent safe, but it was DAMN safer than most of the Chinese coastline was. The only thing he really had to worry about was looking out for sunken buildings and such, when much of the original coastline was flooded during Second Impact.

There were coast guard ships watching them, and Dutch did his damndest not to get nervous. If someone wanted to do them dirty now would be a great time, with these armed ships all around. One 'mistaken' order and this could get very messy, very fast. But no one challenged them as they headed to the docks, and saw a figure there waiting for them.

'Where the hell did they get a patrol boat from?' Misato had to wonder as the boat neared. Three figures got out onto the deck, two adults and Shinji, and the boy looked well. Which was good, considering that NERV expected the shit to hit the fan soon.

Rock made sure the woman matched the photo they had been faxed, then they pulled up to the docks. "Captain Katsuragi?" he called, just to be sure.

"Misato, yes," she agreed, looking amused. "You made it just in time." she said as she passed the briefcase over.

"We do our best," Rock said as he popped the catches open and double checked the money. Not that he didn't trust them, but they'd been conned before.

"I thought we had a week of margin left?" Revy demanded as she helped Shinji up the gangplank to the dock.

"Some things came up," Misato said dryly The attractive woman looked Shinji over again as she asked, "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Shinji gave the expected answer but added, "other than the whole chased by crazed bounty hunters, ran out of town, shot at and so on. Other than that, I'm just peachy."

Rock had to hide a smile at that, but Revy laughed.

Shinji moved to take off the pistol Revy had lent him, but the older womanh shook her head. "Keep it," she said, "you might need it."

"Thank you," he told Revy and Rock as Shinji added, "and thank you for everything you've done for me."

"All part of the Lagoon company service," Rock said as Dutch ordered the lines undone and they started to pull away from the dock.

"Give us a call if you need a ride out of here," Revy yelled as they sailed off, "we'll give you a discount!"

Shinji had to grin at that even as Misato scowled. "Come on," the older woman in a red jacket and short dress said as she lead him off, "we need to go see your father."

The trip into NERV was rather surreal, though thankfully nothing exciting happened. Well, other that Misato getting lost. A nice brown haired girl named Maya rescued them from that, and in short order they arrived in a hallway outside what looked like blast doors where a blond haired woman in a lab coat waited for them.

"You got lost?" the blond looked annoyed.

"Sorry, Rits," Misato sighed.

They were lead into a dark chamber with scaffolding, and as Shinji followed he really wondered what these people were playing at. The lights came on 'dramatically' revealing the upper part of a purple... giant robot? Kind of. It looked armored and humanoid, but as Shinji looked at it he was also reminded of a living being.

"Welcome to NERV," the voice boomed, and Shinji had to fight HARD not to dra his gun and fire. (Which probably would have felt good, but...) His father, Gendo Ikari, stood on the platform above them, trying to look impressive. However, considering how often Shinji had people try to kill him lately, it rather fell short.

"What do you want, father?" Shinji asked flatly, sounding distinctly unimpressed.

That rather threw Gendo off, but he ecovered quickly. "This is the ultimate fighting machine, Evangelion," he gestured to the robot grandly, "and I want you to pilot it."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

End?

Notes: This started out as just a very short fic where Shinji was rescued by the Lagoon Co, had various adventures off panel and grew enough spine to tell Gendo off. Expanding on it was fun, tho I admit it has a lot of plot holes.

I MIGHT continue this eventually, if only to explore how the criminal world was hit by Second Impact. Maybe.


End file.
